Wales rugby star Josh Adams being eyed by Lyon with Six Nations set to start in two weeks
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Wales rugby star Josh Adams is in Lyon’s sights with the Six Nations set to kick off in two weeks, giving head coach Warren Gatland ANOTHER distraction to deal with before a tournament.
- Josh Adams could be tempted by a move from Cardiff to Lyon’s Top 14
- And the interest provides another distraction for Warren Gatland to deal with.
- The Welsh Rugby Union is currently negotiating a new agreement with its four regions.
- He admitted in 2019 that the internal situation distracted the players in the Six Nations
Warren Gatland has had a headache on the eve of the Six Nations with his star Welsh wing Josh Adams attracting interest from Lyon and other big-spending French clubs.
Adams has 44 caps and has been a mainstay of the Wales team since his Test debut in 2018. He was the top tryscorer at the 2019 World Cup and won the Lions’ selection two years later.
The 27-year-old has one year left on his contract at Cardiff and has been in top form for the Welsh capital side this season with seven tries in his last six games.
Josh Adams was Wales’ leading tryscorer at the 2019 World Cup and has 44 caps for the team.
But the fact that none of the four Welsh teams can offer new contracts to any of their players at the moment means that the country’s international stars are becoming prime targets for moving abroad.
Try machine Adams is one of them and Sportsmail understands that the Lyon Top 14 are eyeing him as a potential acquisition.
Any move by Adams would mean a club would have to pay Cardiff a transfer fee, but that hasn’t deterred French teams who have much bigger checkbooks than their European rivals.
Warren Gatland’s players have been considering their future with the ever-changing WRU.
Should he opt to leave Wales, Adams would no longer be available for Test selection, as he currently has less than the 60 caps required to play club rugby abroad and also play at international level.
Adams also cannot reach that magic number before the World Cup in France, so he would need special dispensation from the Welsh Rugby Union to play in that tournament if he agrees to move.
The potential to lose him would be a huge blow to the return of Wales head coach Gatland, given Adams’ age and status as both a Lion and an established international star.
Gatland admitted this week that more Welsh stars will leave with the WRU yet to formally sign a new financial deal with its four regions.
Adams could be tempted by a move to Lyon’s Top 14 without a new contract in Cardiff
With no firm contract offers on the table, Dragons lock Will Rowlands has already agreed to join Paris giants Racing 92.
The four Welsh professional teams (Dragons, Cardiff, Ospreys and Scarlets) are in deep financial trouble and desperately need the deal with the WRU to be signed as quickly as possible.
Even if it is, the meager budget sums to be offered are unlikely to convince all of Wales’s international players to stick around.
It means once again Gatland have to deal with off-pitch politics alongside rugby ahead of the Six Nations which kicks off on February 4.
Wales will open the 2023 Championship when they take on world number 1 Ireland at the Principality Stadium.